Dental charity give Rugby tots a lot to smile about

Toddlers at a Rugby nursery got enthusiastic about brushing their teeth when a dental advisor paid them a visit.

Karen Coates from the Rugby-based charity, the Oral Health Foundation, led a session for pre-school pupils at Rugby Beehive Nursery and Pre-school, during which the children took part in brushing demonstrations and activities about healthy diets and given guidance and tuition on how to brush their teeth correctly.

Karen said: “Having the chance to teach young children about the importance of their oral health and show them about basic oral hygiene is an excellent opportunity to give them the skills they need to take care of their teeth throughout the rest of their life.

“It was great to see the children engage with the activities and show enthusiasm to learn more about their teeth. Hopefully they will take away some of the things we did and incorporate them into their daily oral health routines.”

Rugby mayor Sally Bragg, who attended the session, said: “By instilling the importance of a healthy mouth at a young age, we are not only creating good health for children now, but the benefits will most likely continue far into the future.”

• Each child at the nursery also received a copy of The Lost Smile – a children’s book developed by Wrigley as part of their Smile Back programme. Authored by award-winning children’s poet Joseph Coelho, The Lost Smile tracks the adventures of Kyle, a young boy who tries to find his family’s lost smiles.

All proceeds from The Lost Smile Book are being donated to the Oral Health Foundation and Action for Children.